BELLAIRE — Muxie Distributing Co. held its annual Awards and Achievement Dinner recently.

Several individuals were honored for their dedicated service while the continued growth of the company was highlighted.

General Manager John Weyerick was recognized for his longevity at Muxie’s. Weyerick has now been with the company for 26 years as he initially cut his teeth with Muxie’s while still in high school.

Muxie officials also recognized five additional employees for 10-plus years of service. They each received service awards.

Meanwhile, Bob Sacco announced he will be retiring this month after 10 productive years at Muxies. On the flip side, Jeff Lowe was a recent addition to the sales team. He brings with him 20 years of sales experience in the beverage industry.

Zack Hood also joined the Muxie team as a new area merchandiser.

“Our workers are very important to us, and I credit all of our employees both past and present. They are and continue to be the backbone of our company,” said Muxie’s President and CEO Jeff Paolina. “In order to be a successful business you need to provide good jobs, good benefits, as well as have good people working for you. We have that.”

The past year was one which saw continued growth for Muxie’s in Eastern Ohio. The company’s share of the market in Belmont and Monroe counties increased by 2.3 percent.

Moreover, Muxie’s earned the number one rating in sales growth for Anheuser Busch in the state of Ohio for the month of December while ranking second overall in Ohio in 2014. In addition, Muxie leads the state in both Miller Lite and Coors Lite sales growth and is ranked nationally overall. The All-American Town distributor continues to be ranked at the top in the MillerCoors annual quality audit.

Muxie Distributing has a long and successful history, dating back to its inception in 1952.

Bruno “Muxie” Paolina, and his wife Virginia, started the business in a building no larger than a four-car garage. They started out distributing only Rolling Rock, Shmidt and Wiedemann.

A big break came in 1955 when Muxie’s secured the rights to distribute products for the quickly expanding Anheuser Busch Company. It proved a boon to Muxie Distributing’s business. Further expansion took place in 1992 when Muxie purchased Fort Steuben Distributing and acquired the distribution rights to Coors Brewing Co.

The company made another major advancement when it bought out Valley Distributing and acquired the distribution rights to Miller Brewing Co., which made Muxie Distributing one of only a few distributors in the country to have all three major brewers under one roof.

The Paolina family has not rested on its expansion laurels. They continue to drive the company forward.

That was reflected by Muxie’s recent addition of the Yuengling and New Belgium Brewing brands to its growing portfolio. New Belgium Brewing is the third largest craft brewery in the country.

The beauty of Muxie’s Distributing Co. is that has remained family owned and operated since its inception in 1952. Its initial work force of three has mushroomed to 35-plus.

“Our recipe for success is the quality of our products, excellent customer service, and most of all the quality of our staff,” Jeff Paolina stated.